Members Discovery Program - Raqib Shaw: Ballads of East and West

Fri., Feb. 21, 2025, 6–8:30 p.m.
Free with registration | This event is for Supporting, Patron, and Benefactor Members.
Members
Huntington Art Gallery
LA Opera will perform excerpts from Léo Delibes’ Lakmé on the Huntington Art Gallery South Terrace. This performance is inspired by Raqib Shaw’s lush fantasy world of landscapes and imagined interior spaces. This evening event is for Members at the Supporting, Patron, and Benefactor levels.
Enjoy complimentary selections of white, red, and sparkling wine as well as coffee and tea. Light bites and dessert will be available for purchase.
Questions or accessibility needs? Contact membership@huntington.org




Installation view of “Raqib Shaw: Ballads of East and West.” Photo by Linnea Stephan. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
Raqib Shaw, The Departure (After Tintoretto), 2021–22. Acrylic liner and enamel on aluminum, 31 1/2 x 33 4/8 in. | © Raqib Shaw. Private Collection. Photo © Raqib Shaw and (White Cube) Theo Christelis.
Installation view of “Raqib Shaw: Ballads of East and West.” Photo by Linnea Stephan. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
Raqib Shaw, Ode to the Country without a Post Office, 2019–20. Acrylic liner and enamel on birch wood, 31 4/8 x 33 4/8 in. | © Raqib Shaw. Private Collection. Photo © Raqib Shaw and (White Cube) Theo Christelis.
About the Speaker
Christina Nielsen is the Hannah and Russel Kully Director of the Art Museum at The Huntington. Nielsen received her Ph.D. in art history from the University of Chicago, where she specialized in medieval and ancient art. She has taught at the University of Chicago, UCLA, and UC Santa Barbara. She has over 20 years of experience in curatorial and senior leadership roles at museums across the United States, including the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
About the Performance
This musical program, featuring Western music inspired by the lush landscapes and culture of India, presents selections from the melodic French opera Lakmé by composer Léo Delibes alongside Czech composer Walter Kaufmann’s evocative art song “I Heard a Bird at Break of Day.” These selections explore the blending of the delicate, exotic textures of French Romanticism with early 20th-century art songs while highlighting the beauty and connection between us and nature, the spiritual, and the transcendent.Learn more about LA Opera.
